Arthur Lynden Bell

Military career

Lynden-Bell was the son of Major-General T. L. Lynden-Bell. He attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and commissioned as a Lieutenant into the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) in May 1885. After promotion to Captain on 31 January 1894, he served the following year on the North West Frontier of British India and attended the Staff College, Camberley in 1898. A year later, he saw active service in the Second Boer War, commanding a mounted infantry contingent of the Buffs. In 1900 he became a Staff Captain for intelligence in the War Office and a year later was made Deputy-Assistant Quartermaster-General for intelligence at the War Office on 20 July 1901. He was promoted to Major on 3 May 1902, and appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1905. In 1907, Lynden-Bell became General Staff Officer Southern Command and in 1911, he became General Staff Officer Lowland Division. At the start of the First World War, Lynden-Bell was Assistant Quartermaster-General of the British Expeditionary Force. In 1915, he was Chief of General Staff of the Mediterranean and Egypt Expeditionary Force, and saw service in the Gallipoli Campaign, being Mentioned in Dispatches. He was appointed a Commander of the Legion of Honour in 1917. In 1918 he was Director of Staff Duties at the War Office. He retired from the regular army in 1924 and in 1928 became Colonel of the Buffs, serving in the position until 1 January 1937.

He married Bertha Marion Akers-Douglas, daughter of Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston and Adeline Mary Austen-Smith, on 2 June 1905. In retirement he served as a Deputy Lieutenant and as a Justice of the Peace.